Court+ Model
Overview
Court+ is a pricing model unique to PodPlay that resolves a Club's free-rider problem — Non-members joining a Member's discounted Reservation and benefiting from Membership perks without paying for a Membership themselves. The mechanism that closes the gap is the Day Pass Non-member Fee, charged to Non-members at check-in.
The free-rider problem
A Non-member books a private court for $60 and invites three Non-member friends. The court cost splits evenly, so each Non-member pays $15.
A Member books the same court for $44 — a 27% Membership discount — and invites three Non-member friends. The cost splits to $11 each. The three Non-member friends get the Member's discounted rate without paying for a Membership themselves. For a deeper look at how this affects Membership economics, see Evaluate Membership Models for Your Club.
Resolving the Free-rider Problem
With Court+, the Day Pass Non-member Fee ($n) is added to each Non-member's share at check-in.
A Non-member books a private court for $60 — four Non-members pay $15 each, no Day Pass Fee applies because no one is benefiting from a Member rate.
A Member books a private court for $44 — the Member pays $11, and each Non-member invitee pays $11 + $n at check-in.
The Club picks any value for $n, and a given Non-member is charged it once per day regardless of how many Reservations they join.
Day Pass Fee for Non-members
The Day Pass Fee for Non-members is the resolution to the free-rider problem on Clubs running Court+ pricing (Bill Splitting). It's an additional fee charged to a Non-member at check-in when they join a Member's Reservation.
A Reservation Holder who is a Member invites their friends, and one or more friends are Non-members. The Day Pass Fee is then charged to the Non-member at check-in via the QR Code or the Unlock Door button for Autonomous venues.
Booking flow
On the Order Summary page — the last page before completing the booking — the Customer sees that a Non-member Fee will apply.
After booking, the Reservation Holder is prompted to invite their friends. The Day Pass Fee notification appears only when the Reservation Holder is a Member; it does not appear when the Reservation Holder is a Non-member.
When the Reservation Holder is a Non-member, the Day Pass Fee does not apply. Non-members already pay the higher Non-member rate per hour and split it among participants, so adding a Day Pass Fee on top of that would double-charge the Non-member.
When a friend clicks the invite, a confirmation pop-up details that the invitee will pay the additional Non-member Fee. The Reservation Holder can review the same Non-member Fee notice in their list of accepted invites.
During check-in
Who pays the Non-member Fee depends on the type of invite the Reservation Holder sent. With a "Paid invite (they pay)," the invitee is charged the Non-member Fee when they check in. With a "Free invite (you cover)," the Reservation Holder is charged the Non-member Fee at their own check-in.
Important: When a Club uses the Day Pass Fee for Non-members, every Customer in the Reservation must be checked in. Admins can verify this on the Overview page of the Dashboard. A green checkmark on the Reservation means all attendees are checked in. No checkmark means an Admin should open the Reservation and toggle Check-in for each remaining attendee.
Revenue protection
With Court+, the Club is guaranteed Reservation revenue even when invitees fail to pay or cancel. On a charge failure, the Reservation Holder covers any invitee whose card declines after they accepted the invite. On a cancellation by an invitee, the balance of the court splits equally among the Reservation Holder and the remaining invitees, regardless of who originally accepted.
For Non-members participating in the Reservation, only the individual Non-member pays their own $n — unless the Reservation Holder sent a "Free invite (you cover)," in which case the Reservation Holder pays the Non-member Fee on the invitee's behalf.
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